Grimes @ The Bowery Ballroom (10.27.2012)

Grimes has toured extensively over the past year, playing shows throughout North America and Europe (check out her February performance in Austin).  Most recently she was joined by Elite Gymnastics and Myths on her "Mythical Gymnastics" tour.  The final leg of the tour originally featured two New York City shows.  Yet due to instantaneous sell outs of both shows, two additional shows were immediately added to meet the overwhelming demand.  Of the four shows, we were able to get tickets to her third scheduled performance at the Bowery Ballroom, alongside Blue Hawaii and Myths.  However because of Hurricane Sandy, the October 28th show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg was canceled, making the show we attended and recorded the last of the tour.

During her set, Grimes was joined on stage by Myths and later by two male dancers.  Her stage design was simplistic, yet hauntingly beautiful.  All of the samplers, keyboards, and other instruments were draped in fabric, flowers, and other decorations.  Everyone on stage also wore some sort of costume during the show. Combined with the smoke machine and the lighting design, the entire set up created a ghostly and spooky ambiance.  Given the style of her music itself and the fact that it was the biggest Halloween party night in New York that Saturday, the feeling was completely embraced.

The mellowest point in the set arrived with the opening track, "Symphonia IX (my wait is u)"; everything else from that point on was a nonstop Grimes party.  Each performer on stage remained active the entire set.  Likewise, the crowd was completely absorbed in the music and there wasn't a visible section of the venue that wasn't dancing along.  No new material was performed but all of the songs sounded incredibly full and polished.  Several songs also included reworked segments.  The set was almost entirely seamless, with transitions between every song after the opener until the encore break (where Grimes made a case about not leaving the stage, which was awesome).  Though every song was flawless, "Phone Sex" for the encore marked the highlight of the night for us. 

We recorded the show from the left side of the balcony.  With minimal crowd noise and the always impeccable sound of the Bowery Ballroom, the recording came out great. Enjoy!

Download the live recording HERE (password= twosails)

Set List:
1. Symphonia IX (my wait is u)
2. [banter]
3. Vanessa
4. Circumambient
5. Oblivion
6. Be A Body
7. Nightmusic
8. Genesis
9. [encore]
10. Phone Sex

Genesis: